Darkness
by inkwheels
Summary: Without giving too much away, I'll just say that Gabriel and Riley's mission doesn't exactly go as planned.
1. Darkness begins

**First, the disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm just borrowing the characters of Intelligence for a while. I'm bummed this was canceled.**

**Second, author's note: I have no idea how long it will take me to finish this one. It's going to come in short chapter bursts as my muse visits me so please be kind and patient.**

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As I slowly made my way down the dark hallway, I could feel the palms of my hands dampen as I held my gun tightly out in front of me. I tried to keep my breathing as quiet as possible despite adrenaline surging through my veins, making my heart pound in my chest.

I had pushed Gabriel behind me before entering the abandoned building but as of two minutes ago he took it upon himself to veer off in another direction. It wasn't like I could argue with him and risk giving ourselves away.

We were here to take down two known arms dealers. It was definitely not the most glamorous place to be but that was the point: some place where the prying eyes of others couldn't see the deals going down.

As I took another couple of steps towards what looked like a basement door, I heard commotion from upstairs and figured Gabriel must have encountered someone. I lost focus for a moment as I looked back, not that I could see anything it was just a reaction – a reaction that proved to be a big mistake.

I felt a hard punch to my chest, knocking the wind out of me and sending me crashing onto the dusty wooden floor on my back. I gasped for air and tried to get my head back in the game but all I managed to do was look up in time to see a fist coming at my face and then there was nothing but darkness.


	2. What's happening?

I felt as if I were sledding down a mountain. Wait, maybe a water slide? I just knew I wasn't upright and under my own power.

When I tried to open my eyes, information came at me in chunks. Everything flashed before me and didn't make any sense. The harder I tried to understand the more confused I got.

I heard a woman's voice saying my name but all I could see above me were lights and ceiling tiles through half-closed eyes.

"Riley?"

There it was again.

I struggled to keep my eyes open and saw a blurry vision of a blonde woman looking down at me.

Lillian.

My breath caught in my throat as I finally made the connection. I tried so hard to start a conversation but my eyes kept shutting and I couldn't gather enough strength to squeak out anything other than Gabriel's name.

"Hang on, Riley," she said as her warm hand rested on my cheek. I saw tears in her eyes, which I'd never seen before.

Shit.

This couldn't have been good.

The moving sensation stopped and I heard a commotion all around me but I couldn't make sense of what anyone was saying. There were a bunch of people around me, spouting off things I couldn't comprehend. The only things that got my full attention were the pain and the fact that I could hardly breathe. It felt like someone was stabbing me each time I attempted to take a breath and what little air I could suck into my lungs wasn't enough.

Someone shined a light in my eyes while someone else started cutting my clothes off.

What the fuck just happened?

I rolled my head to the side just as a man in scrubs came over and began poking at my right side, sending a shockwave of pain tearing through my body. All sorts of alarms and sounds came from the machines surrounding me as I squeezed my eyes shut and started to cry. I'm not the crying type, really. It takes a lot for me to do so. I've been in my fair share of scrapes before but this was by far the worst.

"Internal bleeding" and "punctured lung" was all I heard before I lost consciousness again.


	3. Clear As Mud

A steady and annoying beeping sound is what woke me.

It wouldn't stop.

At first I thought it was part of a dream but when I woke up I soon realized what it was and that it wasn't going to stop.

"Agent Neal, how are you feeling?" a young woman asked me, who I didn't realize was there.

I swallowed hard. My throat felt like I'd swallowed a bucket of sand. "What's…going on?" I whispered. My vision danced between blur and focused as my brain tried to right itself now that I was awake.

She stood by the side of my bed and folded her arms across her chest. If I had to guess she was about my age. She was average height, fit and attractive. The suit she wore told me she was an agent before the words tumbled out of her mouth.

"I'm Agent Laurino. I…"

Panic took hold of me as I became more alert. "Gabriel. Where's Gabriel?" She looked at me and then looked away. I clenched my jaw together as the pain in my side increased. "WHERE is he?"

She moved closer to the bed. "What do you remember about the night at the warehouse?"

I closed my eyes for a moment, tucking my bottom lip in between my teeth as another wave of pain took hold. I could feel sweat beading on my forehead. "Nothing," I said in a quiet pant as I tried to catch my breath.

"What was that?" she asked as she leaned in closer.

"You heard me," I growled in the best tough voice I could muster.

She straightened up, looking me over for a few moments as we engaged in a stare down. "I see how this is going to go, but I'll cut you some slack given your condition. However, it would be in your best interest to try and remember what happened and do so quickly." She paused for a moment, tilting her head slightly. "I'll have the nurse come in and give you something for the pain."

"Bitch," I mumbled under my breath when the door slid shut. I swallowed hard and attempted to get comfortable but it just wasn't possible.

I looked around the room, trying to get a feel for where I was. A single camera was mounted on the wall by the door, aimed right at me. Big brother was watching and most likely listening.

What the hell happened? All I could remember was walking down a hallway in the dark, a commotion upstairs and then nothing. And where was Gabriel? Where was Lillian? Just the thought of not knowing made the pain worse.

A large nurse entered the room with Agent Laurino in tow. "Agent Neal, are you okay?"

I shook my head. "What hap…happened to me? Where…am I?"

She fidgeted with some of the machines by my bedside and adjusted my Morphine drip. "You came in in pretty rough shape a few days ago."

"Days?"

"Four to be exact. You were shot in the chest at close range on your right side. You had a vest on but the impact broke some ribs which punctured your lung and caused internal bleeding. You spent two days in the ICU on a ventilator and then we moved you in here. You've got a chest tube on your right side so be mindful of it. The doctor is taking it out tomorrow." She motioned towards my eye. "Someone clocked you good and gave you a concussion. Between the drugs in your system and the concussion, you're going to be a little foggy for a while." She smiled at me and I felt as if it were genuine.

I could feel the Morphine start to kick in as the room began to sway. "Someone tell me…where…Gabriel…"

Agent Laurino nodded to the nurse who exited the room as she returned to the side of my bed. "He's dead, Agent Neal. You killed him." Her words were void of emotion and accusatory.

"Wh…what? I…" Before I could say another word or think another thought everything went dark again.


	4. Nothing To Say

**Author's note: Thank you to everyone that's reviewed, favorited, is following and reading this story!**

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The next time my eyes opened, I was awoken by someone tapping and then dropping a pen on the tray beside my bed. A middle-aged man with a stern-looking face stared back at me.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

I didn't bother answering.

He got up, straightened out his tie and started pacing around my bed like a vulture. "Agent Neal," he started, "I'm going to cut right to the chase since we've been waiting almost a week to speak to you."

"And you are?"

"Special Agent Dickerson. I've been assigned to this task force to find out why you killed Agent Vaughn, destroying two billion dollars-worth of technology in the process."

Part of me wanted to burst into tears but the other half kept myself in check. Now wasn't the time to fall apart. "I didn't."

"Oh Really? Agent Laurino was in here a few days ago and said that you were still a little fuzzy on the details. If that's the case then how can you be so sure…"

"Because I wouldn't kill a friend." I sucked in a breath and prepared myself to continue. "You might have thought of him as…as a piece of machinery but…I considered him to….to be a friend." I couldn't hide my wince and placed my hand over my aching side.

He stopped his pacing and stood beside my bed. "Were you and Agent Vaughn intimate?"

"What? No!"

"Did you two have some sort of lover's quarrel that drove you to murder him in cold blood?"

Rage burned within me and I wished that I was well enough to punch him in the face. "Absolutely not! You're out of line."

He looked down at me and placed his hand over my side, directly on the stitches where my chest tube had been. His fingers began squeezing the area and I couldn't help but gasp and cry out. "You killed him, didn't you? I want to know why, dammit."

"Ssstop," I grunted through a held breath. I frantically felt around for the nurse's call button but couldn't find it.

"Hey!" Agent Laurino yelled to him as she quickly entered the room.

He let go and shot me an icy glare. "I'm tired of waiting around for answers," he said to the young agent. Then he turned his attention back to me. "We're not done, Agent Neal."

"Are you insane? Do you think you're going to get anything out of her if you hurt her more? They'll just medicate her and delay this even further. Take a walk, Dickerson. Now!"

He gave me one last glare and before jamming a finger in my direction. "I'll…"

"Get out of here now before I call Peters and have you removed from this investigation," she said as she shoved him towards the door.

I stared at the ceiling as I tried to focus on my breathing. I didn't want to pass out. "Fuck," I grunted under my breath. I tried to tuck the pain into the back of my mind, forcing myself to become more alert, especially now that I didn't have all that medication in my system.

"I want to know what the hell's going on. Lillian. Where is she? I need to talk to her, she knows something. She knows I wouldn't do something like this."

"I can't give you that information."

I was so frustrated I wanted to scream. "He's not dead. He can't be."

"He is and you know that. Why did you shoot him?"

"I didn't! Are you fucking deaf?"

Silence hung in the air as she crossed her arms over her chest and paced. "Then what happened?"

"I. Don't. Know. Someone shot me, obviously, and knocked me out. That's all I know."

"The bullet that went through his skull was traced back to your gun, Agent Neal."

I felt my stomach begin to tie itself into a knot. "Do the math. Whoever knocked me out must have taken my gun and killed…" I stopped for a moment as the word got stuck in my throat, "Killed him."

She sighed heavily and stared at me with an icy glare. "You must have killed him before that."

"We're done. I'm not saying another word to any of you without representation." I took in a breath and tried my best to remain calm. I didn't want them to succeed in breaking me down and I'd be damned if I was going to let them pin this on me.

She leaned in closer to me. "Take my advice, Agent Neal. You don't want him back in this room. You'll sing like a songbird when he's done. Is that what you want?"

I refused to look at her and stayed silent.

"I gutta hand it to you. You are definitely as tough as I'd heard."

I shut my eyes and tried to stay in my zen-like state. "I'm tired. Could you please leave?"

I was surprised when she didn't answer me. Her shoes clicked across the linoleum, the sound moving towards the door. A soft click signaled to me that the door was shut and I opened my eyes again, thankful that I was now alone.

What I needed to do next was form a plan. And fast.


	5. And you are?

**Author's note: Thank you again to everyone that's been reading this story. I appreciate you taking the time to do so!**

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I sat alone in my room picking at a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. While the food didn't look unappetizing, I just wasn't hungry. My head was throbbing in tune with my side and I wasn't 100% sure whatever I ate was going to stay in my stomach.

"You should eat at least something," a woman's voice said to me as she walked through the door, Agent Laurino wasn't far behind, which didn't surprise me.

I put my fork down and moved the plate away, sighing. "Look. You can send in different people every minute if you want but my story is still the same because it's the truth."

"Oh I believe you. My name is Jennifer Hines and I'm your lawyer." She smiled at me as she placed her black attaché case down on the chair. Like Agent Pain In My Ass, she was attractive, probably about my age or a little older and in good shape, judging by the fit of her suit. But it was her eyes that grabbed my attention. They were the bluest I'd ever seen, almost translucent.

She looked around the room and noted the camera by the door. "Agent Laurino, please have a nurse bring a wheelchair in for Agent Neal. I'd like to speak to my client privately and I cannot do so in here."

"We can turn the camera and sound off to accommodate you."

She shook her head. "I have no guarantee that what we're discussing is private so either you can have the nurse come in or I will, doesn't matter to me."

Laurino's eyes narrowed as she turned and exited the room to get the nurse and I have to admit that I took pleasure in her aggravation.

The woman patted my arm. "Trust me on this, Thriller," she whispered to me.

The name got an immediate reaction out of me. "Wh-?"

She shook her head. "Not now."

The nurse entered the room and didn't look happy. "Miss Neal shouldn't be moved right now. I don't have authorization from her surgeon."

"I understand and appreciate your concern. Unfortunately, I need a private room in which to speak to my client. This is an extremely urgent matter. Do you have such a room available for about a half hour?"

"I really can't authorize you to take her out of this room without Dr. Denton's approval. I…"

She put a hand up to stop her from talking. "Like I said, this is an extremely urgent matter. I cannot go into details but I would appreciate your full cooperation. I will bring Agent Neal back in about a half hour."

"But.."

"Where is there a private room that I can use?" She kept her tone even and upbeat and it impressed me that she didn't appear to be rattled.

"Down the hall, take a right and then a left. There is a small conference room in there. I don't know if it's occupied but that's the only room available on this floor."

"Great." She turned her attention back to me. "You ready?"

"Don't have a choice do I?" I smiled, barely.

They helped me into the wheelchair, which proved to be quite an unpleasant experience. It took a good ten minutes until I was able to actually get into it, and there were a few times when I just wanted to say "fuck it" and stay put. After lying in a hospital bed for a week, being vertical didn't feel as great as I thought it would.

With my jaw clenched to the point of almost shattering, I endured the ride with my three chaperones and was finally able to breathe when the door to the room shut and it was only the two of us.

"First things first, are you okay?" she asked me, kneeling down in front of me.

I waved off her concern even though I wasn't okay. "I'm fine. What the hell is going on?"

"A friend sent me to get you out of here so I will explain later."

"We're leaving? How are…?"

"We're going to have to do this the hard way and your friend Agent Laurino isn't going to like it, but whatever." She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. "We don't have a lot of time to do this so I need you to just trust me and go with it."

I nodded and felt helpless in my weakened state. I didn't do weak. Not now. Not ever.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

She smiled at me and patted my knee as she stood. Putting on her game face, she went to the door and poked her head out, "Agent, could you please come in for a moment?"

Laurino entered the room and quickly went into defensive mode, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I just want to be clear on what you're accusing my client of, for the record."

"Agent Neal is suspected of killing Agent Gabriel Vaughn."

Hines started to pace around Laurino, taking in the information. "I see. So what evidence is on file to support this claim?"

"We've run ballistics on the bullet removed from Agent Vaughn's skull and it is a match to Agent Neal's gun."

She walked behind Laurino, posing to ask another question. "It is my understanding that Agent Neal wasn't the only one in that warehouse that night, am I correct?"

Before Laurino could answer, she found herself in a sleeper hold as Hines' arms wrapped themselves around her neck like a Cobra. Her body went limp and slumped to the floor.

Hines took the gun from her holster and handed it to me. "Hang onto this." Leaving Laurino lying motionless on the floor, she quickly began wheeling me out of the room and down the hallway in the opposite direction of where we'd come from before.

"Where are we going?"

"Freight elevator. I have someone waiting for us in the back lot."

We made our way through the hallways as calmly as possible so that we wouldn't attract attention and soon found the elevator.

Loading me in, she quickly shut the heavy door and sent us down to ground level. "How you holding up? You look a little pale? Don't go passing out on me."

"I'll be fine. I just want to get the hell out of here." I swallowed down the nausea that sat in my throat because of the pain in my side and my head. The dizziness wasn't helping either.

It felt like an eternity but the elevator finally came to a stop. The door opened and I saw a man on the other side. Raising the gun up, I gripped it as tightly as I could, readying myself for a fight.

She put her hand over it, pushing it down. "Easy. He's with me. It's okay."

They got me out of the elevator and into an SUV within minutes. I'm not sure what happened after that because I passed out.


	6. Waking Up

"Riley?"

I heard someone saying my name but my cloudy brain couldn't make sense of it.

"Riley, wake up."

It was a woman. Lillian?

"Come on, Riley. Wake up."

I pried my eyes open and saw the woman from the hospital staring down at me.

"That's it," she said as she smiled at me and patted my arm. "You've had me a little concerned. We gave you some pain medication but haven't been able to wake you."

I felt as if I were hung over. The room was spinning and my eyelids felt heavy. "Wh-where am I?"

"We're at a safe house."

Running my hand over my face, I started to feel my world coming back into focus as the drugs started to let go of me.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like shit. Don't give me any more pain medication. Stuff just makes me feel worse." I'd never been able to handle Morphine. The last time I found myself in the hospital was when I was stabbed several times while protecting the President's children, took me almost a week to not feel like someone had stuffed my head and mouth full of cotton.

"Sorry, that's my fault. I might have given you a little too much but you were in a lot of pain when we got here."

"And who are you, exactly?" I looked around the room and then down at myself and realized my hospital gown got traded in for a zip-up hoodie and sweat pants. "And why am I wearing something else?"

"I changed your clothes after we brought you here. My name is Andi Rhodes, and as I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm not a lawyer. I was a medic in the Army for a while and now I…well…do various freelance work now and then." She smiled at me, knowing that I caught her drift. "I've worked with Agent Griffin over the past few years. He contacted me after he had heard about what happened."

I let my eyes fall to the blanket covering me and began picking at the edge. "So is he really dead?" My voice felt small, almost like a faint whisper. I didn't want to hear the answer.

"I'm sorry to say that he is."

Shutting my eyes, I couldn't help that a few tears spilled out and rolled down my cheeks. "Dammit, Gabriel."

"Someone in the Agency wanted to put an end to that chip and your mission was just a cover for them to do it." She walked over to a small fridge and retrieved a bottle of water, opening it for me. "Here. Drink what you can. I'll bring some food in in a bit."

I took a sip and the cool water soothed my dry throat. "What information do you have about that warehouse?"

"My sources say that you two were sent there on false Intel. The whole thing was staged and whoever was there, and shot you, was part of the plan. It's like they had the whole thing scripted." She paced, annoyed by the facts of her story. "I'm working on getting more info on who pulled the trigger."

"But why wouldn't they have killed me too, no loose ends?"

"Killing you is too easy. It's in their nature to make a grand spectacle of the whole thing and make themselves look innocent. They will play the part of the hero when they either lock you up or blackmail you into doing things you don't want to do from now until the day you die." She chuckled slightly. "You know I always wanted to be a Federal Agent, but I just didn't like the way they played games with each other."

"Where is Lillian? I need to see her." I took another sip of water as I started to feel somewhat human again.

"I'm still working on that, too."

"She was with me when they brought me to the hospital. I remember her walking beside me."

Andi sighed heavily. "I'm sure they've told her that you're dead. All these mind games they play with people." She shook her head. "Let me get you something to eat before we start getting all deep into this, but before I do I have to ask…how'd you get the name Thriller?"

I smiled and laughed, ignoring the pain in my side. "You don't want to know."

"No, I do want to know." She crossed her arms over her chest and playfully tilted her head. "Come on."

"Fine, Griffin and I had been seeing each other for about four months. We'd gone on this highly stressful mission and the two of us almost got killed when part of our convoy was attacked. Only two vehicles, including ours, were spared."

"Where was this?"

"Cairo. We went back to our hotel and got completely wasted, to blow off some steam. We turned on the radio and they had a bunch of American music playing and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' came on." I stopped talking for a moment, thinking back to that night.

"And?"

"Let's just say one thing led to another during the song and in the morning he started calling me 'Thriller'."

She smiled at me, laughing. "THAT, my friend, is awesome."

"THAT stays between us."

"I'm a vault."

We sat in silence for a few moments before she broke it. "So you two aren't together anymore?"

"It just didn't work. I mean, it was fun and it was nice to have someone in my life that understood my work. Up and leaving in the middle of dinner or a movie isn't well received by most. But Griffin and I are alike in too many ways and it just didn't work out." I watched her for a moment and tried to get a read on her. "He's fair game if you want him."

"Me? Hah, no. No. I'm all set. He's a great guy but he's a guy and that's not my thing."

"Ah, I see."

"Well, now that I've made that completely awkward, let me go get you something to eat. I'll be back in a few." She headed for the door and turned back, "Oh, and if you even try to get out of that bed, I'll kick your ass." Smiling, she left the room.

It wasn't long before the tears started to fall and I couldn't do anything to control it.


	7. Thriller

**Author's note: Thanks to everyone that's sticking with me on this. I know it strays from what most liked about the show - the Riley and Gabriel relationship - but I wanted this to be a little different. Hope you enjoy the chapters to come!****  
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With food in my belly and a three hour nap, I was feeling stronger. So much so, I decided to get up. Was it the best idea? Probably not. Did I care? No. I felt like I was wasting time lying around. I needed answers and time wasn't on my side.

I managed to swing my legs over to the side of the bed and sit up, leaning over to take the weight off my injured side as I gathered some strength to get to my feet. I sat there for a few minutes, waiting for the pain to subside and that's when I was busted.

"What are you doing?" Andi asked as she entered the room.

"I need to get up and walk around. Sitting around is making me feel worse AND I need to figure out where they took Lillian."

She stood over me and gave me a stern look. "Remember the part about me kicking your ass?"

I smiled. "Raincheck on the ass kicking."

"You're one of those patients aren't you, stubborn to the core. Come on. At least let me help you."

"Fine," I grumbled. I wouldn't admit it but I couldn't get up on my own.

She helped me to my feet and I couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped from me before I was able to suppress it.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Why do I get the feeling that you'd never admit it if you weren't okay?"

I laughed as I walked along with her. "You're right. Just used to…"

"Playing the tough guy role, I get it. I'm the same way so I'm no one to judge." She led me into the kitchen and helped me sit down on a chair by the breakfast bar.

Placing a folder onto the counter, she slid it towards me. "I have photos from the warehouse that were hacked from the cameras. I had someone download the footage but it had a virus that automatically attached itself to it, which made quite the mess. We managed to get these screenshots off before it imploded."

I looked at the first photo and felt my stomach clench, it was me laying on the ground, a man standing over me, gun in-hand.

"I ran his face through the database and got a hit. His name is Vladamir Aliyev. He's got ties to the Russian mob."

I looked at the next photo; this one was of Gabriel lying on the floor with a man standing over him. The photo was very dark, darker than mine, so I couldn't really see Gabriel very well.

"That is Andreas Nosov, also with ties to the Russian mob."

I froze, just staring at Gabriel lying there. A million scenarios running through my head on how this could have gone differently and may I could have saved him.

"I know you probably don't want to look at those right now. I'm sorry."

"We separated when we first went in. I always make sure he's behind me when we're in the field but he decided to go off in a different direction. Maybe I should have followed him and then…this wouldn't have happened." I felt my eyes moisten. It's not as if he and I were more than co-workers, but I trusted him with my life, something he'd saved a number of times. That's when my blood started to boil and I jabbed my finger at the photo of Nosov. "Where is he?"

Andi sighed heavily. "That info might take a while to get. These guys are ghosts. They pop up here and there and then disappear, sometimes for years."

"I NEED to find him. You're the only one with resources right now. I can't reach out to anyone from my team because the whole thing's been compromised. I'm on my own on this one."

She shook her head. "No, you're not on your own. I will help you. I'm sure Griffin will help however he can."

"No. I can't involve anyone from the agency. It's too risky. He's already stuck his neck out for me sending you in to get me."

"Look, I'll do what I can but it won't be easy."

"Try. At least try. Please?" She nodded. "And thanks for getting me out of that hospital. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a pleasant experience if I was still there."

"You're welcome." She got quiet and leaned her elbows on the counter in front of me. "I gutta ask you this and I'm sorry if it offends you."

I felt my breath quicken as my mind thought of all types of questions she might ask. "What?"

She looked down for a moment before looking back up at me. "How much do you trust Lillian?"

I'll admit that I was taken aback by the question. My mouth started to form an answer but then I stopped and thought about it for a moment. She saw my hesitation, clear as day. "I…I don't really know Lillian personally. There have been some questionable parts of missions we've been sent on but…"

"Your hesitation means you're not sure."

"I guess I've never really thought about it. They send us out to do a job and I'm in no position to question it. I mean, I have, but they don't take kindly to it. What are you implying? That Lillian might be behind this?"

"I'm just taking a look at everyone around you and Gabriel. This mission didn't just happen to go south, someone orchestrated it. I think you two are just the typical Chess pieces and the agency tells you what to do, what to think and I want to know exactly who is pulling the strings." She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "They always seem to forget that you're human beings first."

"We took an oath to protect our country at all costs."

"Yes, you did, but they still lose sight of the fact that you're someone."

I watched her for a moment, studying her body language. "This goes deeper for you, doesn't it?"

She turned, walked to the fridge and took out a beer. Twisting the cap off, she tossed it onto the counter as she took a long pull. "My fiancé was an agent. She'd been with them for about a year so she was still the new kid in town and they took advantage of it, sending her all over the place to these God awful hell holes. Half the time I wasn't sure when or if I'd ever see her again.

"There were too many times that she'd come home with something broken or bruised because she'd gotten in a fight or an ambush." She motioned towards my side, "You know what I mean. And I'm sure this isn't the first time you've been hurt, right?"

"No, it's not," I said quietly.

She took another sip of her beer and placed the bottle down onto the counter. "They sent her to Iraq, of all places, to do whatever it was they wanted her to do – get Intel, surveillance, whatever it was – and they kidnapped her and her partner; tortured them for days." She stopped talking and closed her eyes for a moment. "I got a phone call telling me that her body had been found and that it was on the next plane home."

"God, I'm so sorry."

"They threw her in a ditch. A fucking ditch, like she was just a piece of trash. And all the agency could tell me was that she died serving her country. Yes, it's the truth but what about the rest of it? What about how the dirty scumbags of their agency gave up their location and traded them for money? They neglected to tell me that part."

I started to see the similarities. "Does Griffin know how this situation relates to yours?"

"Yes. It's another reason why he called me. I'm not going to let them do this to someone else." She wiped a tear from her eye and turned away from me.

I got up and put a comforting hand on her back. "I'm sorry about what happened to her. You don't have to do this if it's too much."

"I have to. I have to do it for her." She snuffed away the tears. "Sorry. Now I'm crying like a damn baby." She laughed as she wiped her eyes.

"Come here," I said as I hugged her gently for a minute before easing away. "Tell anyone that I'm a hugger and I'll hunt you down."

She laughed and smiled at me. "Your secret is safe with me." As if on cue, her phone rang. She looked at the screen, "Its Griffin." Pressing the answer button she put the phone to her ear, "Hey….yeah, she's right here." Holding the phone out, she handed it to me, "He wants to talk to you."

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better but it could have been a whole lot worse."

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time to talk. I'm sorry I didn't come for you myself but I'm in the middle of a mission and it would have raised a flag if I'd gone missing."

"Don't apologize. I don't think you should get involved. I don't know how deep this goes but its Clockwork sooo…"

"I know, I'm trying to help without being so obvious, that's why I had to ask for Andi's help."

"I'm serious. Stay out of it. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you because of me."

"Aww, Thriller. Don't go getting all sappy on me," he joked.

I laughed and shook my head. "If you were here right now I'd punch you."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not." He was quiet for a few seconds. "I better go. My partner will be back any minute. I'll try to call you in a few days. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." My answer was more like a squeak than an actual word.

"Liar."

"You know me too well." And he did. During the time we were together I'd gotten myself in a jam that led to a nasty fight with this woman who was a combination of Mohammad Ali and Jackie Chan. The end result was two broken ribs, a broken nose and dislocated shoulder.

I'd insisted that I was fine, even though I wasn't, and the simple task of taking a shower proved to be too much. I ended up on the floor, leaning against the tub as I tried to get a handle on the pain. He'd heard the commotion and found me sitting there helpless, reading me the riot act of how I should have asked for help.

"Yes, I do know you. Please be careful."

"I will. You do the same."

"Talk to you soon. Bye."

"Bye." I ended the call and handed the phone back to Andi.

"We should get packed up." She looked at her watch. "We're moving to another location in a few hours." She patted my arm as she walked past me.

I sat there for a few minutes thinking about what my life was about to become – constantly moving around, looking over my shoulder. I had no choice thanks to someone at the agency. Was it Lillian? Was it even someone I knew? I was anxious to find answers and hoped I'd get them soon.


End file.
